Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Inappropriate

We had a couple of friends in town this past week--my birthday party, International Women's Day lunch, and a good friend's 50th birthday celebration. On two occasions, I noticed how someone can really step into a good vibe and destroy the mood. Here's one: We were six at our Women's Day lunch and I had suggested that we each talk about what it meant to be a woman before we finished our meal. Over the next hour, we had striking conversation...not so much about what it is like to be a woman but about what it must be like to be a man. We had a roundabout way of talking about ourselves, but it was insightful. Everyone had something to say and we enjoyed it. Towards the end of our meal, another friend of ours joined us. As soon as she sat down, she started talking about how much she hated International Women's Day. "What have we really accomplished? How far have we really come that people are congratulating us? On What?" And she went on and on about how she doesn't care about the significance of this day because she doesn't think it represents what women really are. Now, her point may be well constructed, but her timing? Way off! Everyone simply was shocked in her own way at her comments. We encouraged the conversation in other directions to little avail as when our complimentary chocolate dessert came, she promptly criticized the congratulations women written on the plate by calling each piece of chocolate a piece of sh*#! Just a little sensibility could have gone a very long way during a meal and conversation that we had all savored despite her inappropriate contributions. To be added to Lanartco's Communication Performance Tip of the Week (a separate weekly message), please connect to this link or send your email address to info@lanartco.com